Xavier Niel, co-shareholder since 2010 of the daily Le Monde , announced that he would propose the creation of a foundation to "sanctuary" the independence of the newspaper, in a statement on Thursday.
Niel ready to buy Prisa shares in Le Monde
In this message, the founder of Free also greets the gesture of Matthieu Pigasse, who offers him to buy equally the participation of the Spanish group Prisa in Le Monde . And is willing to do so, provided that Matthieu Pigasse and himself pledge to bring the titles thus acquired to the "independence pole" of the newspaper.
"Xavier Niel was relieved by the decision of Matthieu Pigasse and Daniel Kretinsky to sign an agreement of approval which they had both signed in October 2018. He also noted Matthieu's will. Pigasse to reconsider the agreement that it had concluded with the Prisa Group and to buy now jointly and equally with him the 20% stake in LML held by Prisa, "explains the troublemaker telecom.
Securities brought to the independence pole
"In this logic, and in order to reinforce the place and the role of the independence pole within the Group shareholding, Xavier Niel wishes that, faithful to the spirit of Pierre Bergé and in the continuity of their approach Today, Matthieu Pigasse and himself make the formal commitment to bring these titles to the pole of independence ", the structure that represents the employees, journalists and readers of Le Monde . "With this formal commitment to bring Prisa titles to the cluster, a common and identical document will definitely formalize the right of approval," says the founder of Free.
Xavier Niel concludes his statement by explaining that he will propose "at the next supervisory board scheduled for October 3" to work with management and the "pole of independence" to "work together on a device to bring 100% of the capital "of the everyday" within a foundation in order to protect its independence ".